1/f-Type noise in a total power radiometer

We report the experimental results of a study of the sources of 1/f ^α type noise (hereafter referred to as 1/f-type noise for the sake of brevity) in a total power radiometer. We find this noise to have two main sources in the radiometer: microwave amplifiers and the square-law diode detector with a Schottky barrier. We present methods for a substantial reduction of 1/f-type noise, which allow total power radiometer measurements to be performed with nominal sensitivity on time scales of up to 10 seconds. The sensitivity of the total power radiometer on time scales up to 100 seconds remains higher than that of a Dicke switched radiometer.     

North–South Asymmetry in the Distribution of Solar Background Magnetic Field

The aim of this article is to investigate how the background magnetic field of the Sun behaves in different hemispheres. We used SOHO/MDI data obtained during a period of eight years from 2003 to 2011 to analyze the intensity distribution of the background magnetic field over the solar surface. We find that the background fields of both polarities (signs) are more intense in the southern than in the northern hemisphere. Mixed polarities are observed in the vicinity of the equator. In addition to the main field, a weaker field of opposite polarity is always present in the polar regions. In the declining phase of the cycle, the main field dominates, but at the minimum and in the rising phase of the cycle, it is gradually replaced by the growing stronger secondary field.     

Aperiodic X-ray flux variability of EX Hya and the area of the base of the accretion column at the white dwarf surface

The goal of this paper is to determine the characteristic cooling time of the accretion flowmatter near the surface of the magnetic white dwarf in the binary system EX Hya. Most of the X-ray photons in such binary systems are produced in an optically thin hot plasma with a temperature above 10 keV heated when the matter passes through the shock near the white dwarf surface. The total X-ray luminosity is determined by the matter accumulated below the shock in its cooling time. Thus, the X-ray luminosity variability related to the variations in the accretion rate onto the white dwarf surface must be suppressed at frequencies higher than the inverse cooling time. If the optically thin plasma radiation dominates in the rate of energy losses by the heated matter, which is true for white dwarfs with moderately strong magnetic fields, less than 1–10 MG, then the matter cooling time can give an estimate of the matter density in the accretion column. Given the accretion rate and the matter density in the accretion column at the white dwarf surface, the area of the accretion channel can be estimated. We have analyzed all of the currently available observational data for one of the brightest intermediate polars in the X-ray sky, EX Hya, from the RXTE and XMM-Newton observatories. The power spectra of its aperiodic variability have given an upper limit on the cooling time of the hot plasma: <1.5–2 s. For the observed accretion rate, ×10¹⁵ g s^?1, this corresponds to a matter density below the shock surface ?10¹⁶ cm^?3 and an area of the base of the accretion channel no more than <4.6 × 10¹⁵ cm². Using the information about the maximum geometrical size of the accretion channel obtained by analyzing X-ray eclipses in the binary system EX Hya, we have derived an upper limit on the thickness of the flow over the surface of the magnetosphere near the white dwarf surface, ?3 × 10⁶ cm, and the plasma penetration depth at the magnetospheric boundary, Δr/r ? 6 × 10^?3.     

Solar Wind Electron Strahls Associated with a High-Latitude CME: Ulysses Observations

Counterstreaming beams of electrons are ubiquitous in coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – although their existence is not unanimously accepted as a necessary and/or sufficient signature of these events. We continue the investigation of a high-latitude CME registered by the Ulysses spacecraft on 18?–?19 January 2002 (Dumitrache, Popescu, and Oncica, Solar Phys. 272, 137, 2011), by surveying the solar-wind electron distributions associated with this event. The temporal evolution of the pitch-angle distributions reveals populations of electrons that are distinguishable through their anisotropy, with clear signatures of i) electron strahls, ii) counter-streaming in the magnetic clouds and their precursors, and iii) unidirectionality in the fast wind preceding the CME. The analysis of the counter-streams inside the CME allows us to elucidate the complexity of the magnetic-cloud structures embedded in the CME and to refine the borders of the event. Identifying such strahls in CMEs, which preserve properties of the low β [<1] coronal plasma, gives more support to the hypothesis that these populations are remnants of the hot coronal electrons that escape from the electrostatic potential of the Sun into the heliosphere.     

Areas of Polar Coronal Holes from 1996 Through 2010

Polar coronal holes (PCHs) trace the magnetic variability of the Sun throughout the solar cycle. Their size and evolution have been studied as proxies for the global magnetic field. We present measurements of the PCH areas from 1996 through 2010, derived from an updated perimeter-tracing method and two synoptic-map methods. The perimeter-tracing method detects PCH boundaries along the solar limb, using full-disk images from the SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory/Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SOHO/EIT). One synoptic-map method uses the line-of-sight magnetic field from the SOHO/Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) to determine the unipolarity boundaries near the poles. The other method applies thresholding techniques to synoptic maps created from EUV image data from EIT. The results from all three methods suggest that the solar maxima and minima of the two hemispheres are out of phase. The maximum PCH area, averaged over the methods in each hemisphere, is approximately 6 % during both solar minima spanned by the data (between Solar Cycles 22/23 and 23/24). The northern PCH area began a declining trend in 2010, suggesting a downturn toward the maximum of Solar Cycle 24 in that hemisphere, while the southern hole remained large throughout 2010.     

An Ensemble Study of a January 2010 Coronal Mass Ejection (CME): Connecting a Non-obvious Solar Source with Its ICME/Magnetic Cloud

A distinct magnetic cloud (MC) was observed in-situ at the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO)-B on 20?–?21 January 2010. About three days earlier, on 17 January, a bright flare and coronal mass ejection (CME) were clearly observed by STEREO-B, which suggests that this was the progenitor of the MC. However, the in-situ speed of the event, several earlier weaker events, heliospheric imaging, and a longitude mismatch with the STEREO-B spacecraft made this interpretation unlikely. We searched for other possible solar eruptions that could have caused the MC and found a faint filament eruption and the associated CME on 14?–?15 January as the likely solar source event. We were able to confirm this source by using coronal imaging from the Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation (SECCHI)/EUVI and COR and Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)/Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronograph (LASCO) telescopes and heliospheric imaging from the Solar Mass Ejection Imager (SMEI) and the STEREO/Heliospheric Imager instruments. We use several empirical models to understand the three-dimensional geometry and propagation of the CME, analyze the in-situ characteristics of the associated ICME, and investigate the characteristics of the MC by comparing four independent flux-rope model fits with the launch observations and magnetic-field orientations. The geometry and orientations of the CME from the heliospheric-density reconstructions and the in-situ modeling are remarkably consistent. Lastly, this event demonstrates that a careful analysis of all aspects of the development and evolution of a CME is necessary to correctly identify the solar counterpart of an ICME/MC.     

“Isotopic footprints” of gamma-ray and proton events and anomalous signal in radiocarbon in 775 AD

The production of the cosmogenic radionuclides ¹⁴C, ¹⁰Be, and ³⁶Cl in the Earth’s atmosphere under the action of powerful impulsive proton and gamma-ray events (superpowerful solar flares and Galactic gamma-ray bursts) is considered. The possible “isotopic footprint” in natural archives (the concentrations of these isotopes in dated polar ice cores and annual tree rings) has been calculated by taking into account geophysical processes. The results obtained have been applied to analyzing the anomalous increase in the concentration of radiocarbon measured in tree rings dated 774–775 AD. Arguments for the fact that the most likely cause of this increase is the high-energy emission from a Galactic gamma-ray burst are adduced.     

Statistical Analysis of Large-Scale EUV Waves Observed by STEREO/EUVI

We statistically analyzed the kinematical evolution and wave pulse characteristics of 60 strong large-scale EUV wave events that occurred during January 2007 to February 2011 with the STEREO twin spacecraft. For the start velocity, the arithmetic mean is 312±115 km?s^?1 (within a range of 100?–?630 km?s^?1). For the mean (linear) velocity, the arithmetic mean is 254±76 km?s^?1 (within a range of 130?–?470 km?s^?1). 52 % of all waves under study show a distinct deceleration during their propagation (a≤?50 m?s^?2), the other 48 % are consistent with a constant speed within the uncertainties (?50≤a≤50 m?s^?2). The start velocity and the acceleration are strongly anticorrelated with c≈?0.8, i.e. initially faster events undergo stronger deceleration than slower events. The (smooth) transition between constant propagation for slow events and deceleration in faster events occurs at an EUV wave start-velocity of v≈230 km?s^?1, which corresponds well to the fast-mode speed in the quiet corona. These findings provide strong evidence that the EUV waves under study are indeed large-amplitude fast-mode MHD waves. This interpretation is also supported by the correlations obtained between the peak velocity and the peak amplitude, impulsiveness, and build-up time of the disturbance. We obtained the following association rates of EUV wave events with other solar phenomena: 95 % are associated with a coronal mass ejection (CME), 74 % to a solar flare, 15 % to interplanetary type II bursts, and 22 % to coronal type II bursts. These findings are consistent with the interpretation that the associated CMEs are the driving agents of the EUV waves.     

Baroresistor effect and semiconductor thin-film baroresistors based on samarium sulfide for spacecraft applications

The paper describes the dependence of the piezoresistance of the hydrostatic compression of the SmS baroresistor on mechanical properties of the electrical part of the carrier. Isotropic and anisotropic materials are considered that can serve as a baroresistor carrier.